First Day of Preschool!

I can't believe I'm actually typing this.  Baker started preschool three weeks ago, August 16th to be exact.  He's only going two mornings a week but it made me terribly sad nonetheless.  The night before when I was getting his backpack ready, I had one of those surreal moments.  I couldn't believe that I was packing his bag for school!  I remember thinking when he was a newborn about how far away 2.5 seemed and how I couldn't ever imagine making it to the preschool years.  So to be at that place is crazy.  

We have several reasons for wanting to put him in a morning program. We really want him to learn to take direction from someone else other than Brad and I , learn to follow instructions, have a chance to be social and make friends with kids his age that he'll see on a regular basis, and hopefully learn something in the process!  For me, I could really use a few hours to myself each week for things I need to get done.  

So, it's really going well so far.  Baker was really excited about it the morning of and even up to the moment we walked into his classroom.  He soon realized I would be leaving and he freaked out.  Thankfully, it only lasted a couple of minutes and then he was fine!  The teachers said he did great and were impressed with how well he did on his first day.  He really loved Pump It Up, the indoor playground next door that they go to daily since they don't have an outdoor space, and even introduced himself to all of his new friends.  Awe, so cute.  He was a little frustrated when I went to pick him up, as if he was mad at me for leaving, but quickly went straight to showing off his new room and toys.  However, the rest of our day was really rough and he was in a foul mood all day so I was worried that this was going to be the usual.  Thankfully that hasn't been the case!  As the days have gone on, he's continually getting better and cries less at drop-off.  He cries for about 30 secs and then he's fine the rest of the day!  His teachers love him and even said he's a bit of a class clown, which I thought was funny.  We're so proud of him and how well he's adjusting!  I think he's really enjoying it!

Good morning!  This happy boy is ready to go to school!  

Of course I took a million pics of him and many of them are really similar but I can't help it!  It was a big day...of course I took tons of pics!

This one made me laugh because his smile is so forced here.  Haha!

Walking to the elevator.  How cute is he with his little backpack? 

Standing with Ray, one of our valet guys.

We're at school!

Let me in!!!

He's such a big boy.  I love this picture.

Me and my big boy.  We were so bummed that daddy couldn't make it but he had to go out of town for a last minute meeting.  Boo!

At pick-up...he was showing me their calendar.

Baker's daily report card...glowing reviews!

His teachers...Miss Sam and Miss Agnes, which we love!

I promised Baker that we would get a special treat after his first day so I stopped by McDonald's on the way for a chocolate milkshake!

This made him very happy!

Very happy about his milkshake.

Chicago Air and Water Show

This is the largest spectator event in the US!  Who knew?  From what we've heard, the beaches with the best view are crammed with people, so we decided to forgo that and went to much less crowded, yet still very crowded, beach.  Good thing because the beyond loud noise created by these big fighter jets scared the guts out of Baker and we had to leave.  We were able to catch quite a good view of some of the planes from our place though and we still had a fun time at the beach for the short time we were there!

Ohio Street beach - our first time at this beach but we liked it so much better AND it's even closer!  Check out the skyline too!

Blue Angels flying over the lake by our building.

More Blue Angels

And then this crazy nose dive just about panicked me, esp when one of the planes looked as if it was going to fly into our building!

New Friends

For months, we've been playing by ourselves, and still do for the most part, but we're slowly but surely making friends here.  So far, most of the friends are from church but we're also meeting people through Meetup.com and the various mom groups I'm a member of on there.  Only thing is, most of the kids have been younger than Baker so it would be nice for him to meet friends closer to his age...thank God for school right?  We're getting there but hopefully we'll make friends that we really connect with soon!  If you think about us, say a little prayer for God to send fun Christian friends our way!

Playdate with my mom's Bible study

Audrey, one of the little girls from my Bible study

Max, another little guy from study.  He and his parents live within walking distance to us so we've been seeing them quite a bit.  He's the cutest and sweetest little boy adopted by them a year ago.  Precious!

Pool playdate at Max's house, or should I say building?  :)

Random Pictures

Looking at a magazine and picking out all sorts of toys and Halloween costumes he wants!  I love how serious his look is, as if this is real business he's reading.

A rather spooky view from our window - There was so much fog the morning that I took this that you could barely see the museums in the distance.  Crazy how only the tops are peaking through.

Chef Baker really working in his kitchen.

Bed time!

This doesn't look like a sleepy face to me.

Cheesing it up

Video of Baker cooking in his little kitchen.

Young Love

I found these pics from before vacation and couldn't resist posting them...they are just too cute!  On a visit to the fountains, Baker made a little Polish friend just his age, Sophia.  We had been singing Ring Around the Rosie and little Sophia joined us.  Not long after, I noticed the two of them just standing there holding hands.  It was the sweetest thing!  Too bad I know we'll never see them again but they were just smitten with each other.  

The happy couple.

Later, Baker went his own way.  He was awfully comfortable in the water that day, but it was so hot, who could blame him!

The big spout!!  I knew he would do this before the summer was over!  Anytime it shoots out of the mouth from the two walls of water, he always looks like he wants to get in.  He finally got as close as he could without getting trampled over, my biggest fear at this fountain since it's so crowded.  I think he would have gone in before now were it not for the dozens of kids that run to it the minute it shoots out.

Poopidy Doo Dah!

I'm happy to announce that Baker has finally pooped in the potty!  Well, only once, but that was worth celebrating!  He absolutely will not go #2 in the potty and though that is frustrating, we are so proud of how well he pees in the potty.  He has that down with no issues whatsoever.  Poop will come with time so we're just remaining patient.  In the meantime, we were so happy when he went to pee pee just before bed time when he accidentally tooted and out came a little poop!  I think Baker was equally shocked when it happened and said "I pooped!  I get spaceship!".  He knew right away that he would finally get his spaceship (we've had this for weeks hoping it would be an incentive to poop) so even though it was bedtime, we stayed true to our word and let him play with it for about 20 minutes before he had to go to bed.  He was so proud of himself but Brad and I were elated!  Unfortunately, it hasn't happened since but I remain hopeful!  :)

He played with this thing for 2 or 3 days straight!

Vacation Videos

The first one is a montage of a few different clips from our vacation.  It's 4 minutes long so I apologize if it's too long but I know that family won't want to miss a second of it!

Baker loves to jump!  What kid doesn't, right?  He is really trying to master jumping from things though and is getting more brave with it.  This was taken at the Chick-fil-A on our long drive back to Chicago.  He was so proud of himself!

Summer Vacation

Well, I'm back!  Sorry for the absence but things have been a bit crazy and my mind just hasn't been on the blog.  Unfortunately for me, I'm WAY behind now but I'll do my best to catch back up!  

We went on vacation week before last to TN for a visit with Brad's parents and to drop Baker off with them so that Brad and I could fly to Orlando for a short trip alone.  We were initially going to Orlando to swim the dolphins at Discovery Cove but got a phone call the week before we were to leave telling us that we couldn't go on our original date because some celebrity event was renting the entire place out.  Well, that really blew our plans out of the water so we just made the best of Orlando and enjoyed our hotel to it's fullest!  Baker had a super time with Nina and Papa and sailed with flying colors with his potty training...not one accident!  We were extremely relieved and proud of him.  We had a really great vacation, it just ended way too soon!

Baker opening his happies from Nina and Papa as soon as we got there...Woody and Buzz!

Loving his little swimming pool.

He wasn't happy at all.  ;)

Getting shot with the water gun by daddy.



Love his little expressions

Plumbers crack.  Hehe.  Makes me laugh!

We threw a birthday party for Papa and Mamaw, even though Papa's birthday was in early July and Mama's isn't until Sept.  Baker loves parties so much, we thought, why not!  He was elated when he woke up from his nap and saw all of the decorations!

Chocolate cupcakes and ice cream makes someone very happy.

Of course, balloons do too!

All smiles!

Eating his breakfast from a cooking tray. Someone has his Nina wrapped!  :)

Brad and I flew out for Orlando on Monday and stayed at the JW Marriott/Ritz resort.  All I can say is fabulous!

View from our room.

This picture of the lobby didn't turn out too well.

Marriott on the left, Ritz on the right

On Tuesday, we spent the entire day at Sea World's water park, Aquatica.  We had so much fun and felt like two young kids.  Sad that at my age I still love water parks!



On Wed, we laid low and relaxed by the resort's pools and basically floated around the lazy river all day.  It couldn't get any more relaxing than this.





We had to bring Baker home a surprise.  He asked for us over and over while we were away and everytime Nina and Papa told him we were in FL, he'd say "I get big supwise!"  Amazing that he remembered us telling him that we before we left so we couldn't come home empty handed.  So he got one of his favorite things...a lollipop, which we don't do often, and a stuffed alligator.

Bedtime stories with Nina and Papa.  They got to experience the new procrastinations and wild child that Baker has become before any nap or bedtime.  He's turned into this maniac and tries his hardest to delay going to bed..."I want to pee pee.  I want milk.  I want to sing a song."  Amazing that a 2 1/2 year old can come up with excuses for bedtime already.  I thought this didn't happen for a few more years!  And I can't even explain how hyper he gets just before too.  Aye yai yai!  

I love this photo because it shows how much the kids love Nina and Papa...even Bleeker is cuddled up under their feet.

Buddha belly

Cheese!

Cooling off on a hot evening with the water sprinkler.

Times like this make me sad that we don't have a yard for him to enjoy.  He loves to be outside so much.

Showing me how he filled his buckets up with water.

Hanging out with Mamaw.

Sadly time to say goodbye.  I love how good this picture turned out.  He asked to go to their house for several days after we got back to Chicago...talk about a guilt trip!

The drive home...these windmills through Indiana are some of the most amazing structures to look at, kind of like art.  I could literally lay down in one of these fields and watch them all day long and be perfectly content.

The cutest dog ever...cuddled up in the back seat.  He had taken Baker's blanket and made him a little nest to lay in.  Sweet.

I love that Bleeker nestled up next to Baker but once he did, Baker wasn't going to let go.